[opendtv] Tivo vs. MCE

  • From: "Bob Weaver" <bobandweave_57@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 12:47:34 -0700

How can you say MCE is an inferior product?

>>No HD support.
Ummm ... I have a growing stack of HD-DVD's.  I put them in the drive and 
play both 720P and 1080P disks.  No muss, no fuss.

>>Vendor lock-in (WMV/WMA)
And why shouldn't I use the best? I have almost 2,500 CD's ripped to WMA 
files.  I have $15,000 worth of Genelec speakers in my home theater. And 
where did I save my music on my Tivo? Now, I have a sortable library of 
music available at the touch of a button with nearly flawless audio quality. 
  Of all the things I love about MCE, this is the BEST.

>>Wiring all your cable/sat boxes with IR emitters.
How/why would you do that?  I just programmed the MCE in with my MX-500 
Universal Remote.

>>Waiting for XP^H^H whoops M C E to bootup.
Correct, it booted up when I installed it. That was months ago. What's your 
point?

>>Waiting for the emitters to change channels.
MCE channel changing is MUCH faster on MCE that it was on my Tivo

>>Watching overlay operator logo within operator logo within operator logo.
Not sure what you're saying here. I have never seen an operator logo appear 
anywhere.

And let's see. I can also hook my MCE box to my monitor through a DVI 
connector and get a 1920x1080 PROGRESSIVE resolution display. And my Tivo 
was ... S-Video?  Oooh boy, that was a pretty picture.

-dirk



From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Kon Wilms
[kon@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2004 10:55 AM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: [Fwd: Google Alert - fcc broadcast flag]

Dirk Gently wrote:
>I dumped my Tivo in the trash a few months ago and bought an MCE box - and 
>of course, they immediately announce a new version of Media Center.

Please explain the logic behind choosing an inferior product.

No HD support. Vendor lock-in (WMV/WMA). No provider CAM.
Re-re-reencoding analog broadcasts or sources. Wiring all your cable/sat 
boxes with IR emitters. Waiting for XP^H^H whoops M C E to bootup.
Waiting for the emitters to change channels. Watching overlay operator logo 
within operator logo within operator logo. Why, the hum from the PC^H^H 
sorry settopbo^H^H^H sorry *convergence* device is also a selling point!

And the kicker - a $1000+ PC with less visual quality and 4-5x the size of 
the provider's STB it replaces - and you still need to keep the provider's 
STB just for the CA access. Priceless. At least you get fancy animated menus 
though, laid out just like the PC layer hiding beneath it.

As a sidenote, http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/info_project.htm stomps all 
over MCE. Unfortunately no-one has the balls to put up the money to 
commercialize their project. It would destroy MCE (sub-$100 STB/Media Center 
with more functionality than MCE will ever have), after all.

Cheers
Kon

_________________________________________________________________
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar ? get it now! 
http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/

 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:

- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at 
FreeLists.org 

- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word 
unsubscribe in the subject line.

Other related posts: